On a gray and uninviting Monday afternoon, members of the Hustad Ice Dam Removal company in Hudson set out to do a good deed for a household that had suffered a recent tragedy. They converged on a residence at the corner of St. Croix and Seventh streets and voluntarily went to work steaming off ice dams on the edge of the roof. Eric Becker and Wesley Stayberg of Hudson started applying steam to the ice dams on the northeast corner of the home at about noon.

A man who shot up his Hudson house and fired at police while his son and three other teenagers were forced to flee has been convicted of felony charges following a plea bargain. Daniel Craig Christenson, 44, now of Lakeville, Minn., pleaded no contest to two felony counts of reckless endangerment and a misdemeanor charge of possession of a firearm while intoxicated. The plea came Friday morning in St. Croix County Circuit Court. Judge Scott R.

A Wall Street meltdown, slow recovery and rising unemployment over the past three years led to a sluggish economy that has directly affected St. Croix County's revenue from property taxes. Foreclosure sales have kept at a steady increase for five years with little hope of a letup in sight. But a recent turn of events was a surprise for county treasurer Laurie Noble when a number properties facing immanent takeover by the county paid up delinquent 2007 taxes.

Tons of drifting snow and rain on top of it have created problems for homeowners in the Hudson area in the form of ice dams on the roof. Unfortunately, experts say the best way to prevent ice dams is to deal with the problem during the hot sticky days of summer when snow and ice are the last thing on the mind. Some area homeowners have suffered damage from ice dams causing water leakage inside the house. "An ice dam is a ridge of ice that forms at the edge of the roof and prevents melting snow from draining off the roof.

Patty Schachtner has enthusiastically assumed the job of St. Croix County medical examiner. You might say she has been training for this kind of work for a long time ... ever since she became a nurses' aide at Somerset High School. The county board approved her appointment in December to assume the post of medical examiner Jan. 1. She took some time in her diminutive office in the government center to reflect on the job and the road she traveled to get there. Schachtner, 50, took EMT classes at WITC in New Richmond with her sister.

Lt. Kristen M. Anderson has achieved a milestone in her 15-year career with the St. Croix County Sheriff's Department. She recently finished a rigorous exam for national recognition as a certified jail manager. Anderson is one of 349 professionals nationwide to earn the certificate and one of two in Wisconsin. Anderson, 39, admitted that working in the jail wasn't her goal when she took her first job in St. Croix County in 1995. "Over time, my thinking changed and I enjoyed the job.

Christmas is a particularly special time of year for Shannon Rae of Hudson and not just for the traditional reasons. In the fall of her freshman year, the 21-year-old college senior suffered from fulminant myocarditis and underwent surgery and a heart transplant. In a worst-case scenario, she might have never made it to celebrate Christmas or her 18th year. "Thanksgiving and Christmas are special.

Jode Formiller got the Christmas present she wanted most a little early this year. Her two sons, Scott 21, and Paul, 19, made it home for Christmas. Each brother is serving a hitch in the United States Air Force -- Scott at Little Rock AFB in Arkansas and Paul at Hurlburt Field in Florida. "I'm just so proud of them serving," said Jode, who wears a pin with two blue stars. A banner of the same design hangs in an upstairs window in her town of Hudson home signifying she is a mother with two children in the Armed Forces. It may not be a big surprise the Formiller boys joined the Air Force.